Tampa, Florida; Big Cat Rescue (BCR); -Kaitlyn Seeberger

I did my internship over Fall 2011 Semester in Tampa, Florida with an organization called Big Cat Rescue (BCR). It was an amazing 3 month experience. I'm a Biology major with an interest in large carnivores. I plan on working with mammalian predators (specifically felines) and wanted some experience working with them, and I found BCR who offers an animal husbandry internship. The facility is an active educational sanctuary for exotic cat species, ranging in size from the tiny, 4 lbs. Geoffrey Cat to Tigers. Level one interns complete a 3 month curriculum, learning to care for the smaller species (Lynx and smaller). BCR offers level 2 and 3 as well, but require an extra 3 months each (so 9 months for level 3). The nice thing about the internship was that they require no previous experience. I went in as a novice and started at the bottom, building up the knowledge and skill to help care for the cats. It requires a lot of manual labor outside, with long work days. Interns are heavily relied on and a part of daily life on property, which means that we got to see and participate in some amazing opportunities that volunteers that are there for years have yet to experience. It can get exhausting, but the work is rewarding and worth it. Our duties varied each day, but generally stayed routine. Consistent duties were daily cleaning of enclosures (you pick up a lot of poop and other messes, so a strong stomach is required), daily chores, observing cats for changes in behavior which often indicates health problems that need to be addressed, giving tours of the facility to the public, diet preparation (for the cats and the few omnivores), feeding, and assisting in the gift shop. Some inconsistent duties included maintenance on enclosures, lots of building projects, painting, enrichment (handing out toys and goodies to the cats), landscaping, picking up debris, observing or assisting the vet, and random projects by necessity. Overall, it's a wonderful internship. It is unpaid because BCR is a non-profit run almost exclusively by volunteers. The people are great and the cats are phenomenal to work with. Since interns are on property (with several fences between us and the cats), we often got to sleep to roaring lions and tigers. Just being around the creatures was awe inspiring. If you're not used to non-LDS environments it could come as a bit of a shock to be around the volunteers since most of them have rough personalities, but they all mean well and they're incredible people who devote so much time to caring for these cats. I loved the opportunity and would have stayed the full 9 months if I didn't have to finish school. I gained valuable knowledge and experience that helped me form a plan for my career path. It is definitely a worthwhile program. I got hands-on experience (it is a no-touch facility, so no petting, not that you'd want to...) and it was an excellent way to get my foot in the door in the field of animal husbandry of exotic animals. I'd recommend considering it!

For more information visit: www.bigcatrescue.org/.